The best car you’ve owned (alternative take on coolest car)

[Imhotep]

This is an alternative to @Peter C’s thread of coolest cars. 

After all, coolest doesn’t always equal best car you’ve ever owned. The ones I put on the thread were my old Saxo VTS and my Toyota GT86. The Saxo spent a lot of time throwing ABS faults, it had 2 alternators in as many months, and some days it just wouldn’t start for no reason at all. My Toyota GT86 is very small and has a fragile engine, but I love them both dearly and I regret not keeping the Saxo to this day. So this brings me to the best car I’ve ever owned. And I’m going to start with this:

 

This is my old BMW 116d SE. This car just did… car things extremely well. I never had a single FTP in it, could easily do 60mpg+, and after a remap it was knocking on the door of 200bhp. It’s the longest I ever kept a daily runner, and honestly? I regret selling the thing. It’s the best car I’ve ever had. 

In two years and nearly 40,000 miles it needed the following only:

Brakes, tyres, a new door handle, and for my own peace of mind a timing chain replacement. And yes the latter was very expensive, as I’m sure @JJ0063 can attest to, but it was at the mileage where it would be end of life, and was ticking when idle so it needed done. Traded it in at 135k for a Saab 9-3 TTID thinking I’d need the extra space with the second child on the way. Transpires I didn’t and the Saab was a piece of shit. I regret that. 

So, coolest isn’t always best. So what’s the best car everyone had?

[junkyarddog]

This.

My much missed Mk Mondeo.

Owned for 14 years,only sold as I needed a WAV.

Smooth,quiet,comfortable,practical,economical and reliable,and in my opinion a handsome old beast.

For me it was perfect.

[vtec-e]

This is my now retired 6th gen. Civic that ran and ran for over 300000 miles and only once failed to start in the 276k that I drove it. It wasn't the fastest, or the biggest, or the most engaging or best handling car I've had, but it carried everything and people thrown at it until rust and Ulez intervened.

Yes it liked rear suspension bushes and exhaust back boxes, and fresh engine oil every 6000 miles, but it was the best transport I've had!

[Lonestar]

In terms of reliability, probably my B6 Passat 1.9 TDI. Apart from breaking it's rear anti-roll bar linkages on a regular basis (never understood why), it never caused me any real problems in 4.5 years of ownership. I only got rid of it because I wanted a petrol estate (more practical than a saloon, and I didn't do the mileage to justify diesel).

It kept going for another 30k miles after I traded it in, but it's MOT expired in October last year, so I expect it's now dead.

[JJ0063]

Hard decision but would have to be old faithful, the E92 335D

Nearly 400bhp, 35MPG and the last of the 3 series with proper steering not EPAS

I loved that car so much, owned it twice. Just needed Labrador space. 

[Andyrew]

Got to be this thing, cost £170 i think about 5 years / 50k miles ago. Chucked a few hundred at it when I'd had it a few months replacing all the suspension and front subframe with the cheapest parts I Could get via my old job and since that I've hardly touched it appart from servicing and a few wear and tear items. Soon up for its 4 set of boots with me so ive Spent more on tyres for it than maintenance.

35 quid tax, max I've had real world was 73mpg but I'd estimate a minimum of 45mpg if giving it shit or towing , Basic and reliable, just does being a car so well. 

So good I have another one as back up when the time comes to retire it.

[Andyrew]

1 hour ago, junkyarddog said:

This.

My much missed Mk Mondeo.

Owned for 14 years,only sold as I needed a WAV.

Smooth,quiet,comfortable,practical,economical and reliable,and in my opinion a handsome old beast.

For me it was perfect.

 Mates had his coming on 10 years I think and has zero plans of letting it go, i feel its possibly the best car fords ever made.

[reb]

I think the best car I've owned has to be the ex-minimad 850 TDI estate.

It was immensely practical and drove well. I don't know what had been done to the engine, but I am convinced a wizard did it, because once it was moving it was far faster than an old school tractor engine has any right to be.

If I hadn't had a manic episode and fired it through a wall I'd probably still be driving it now.

[tooSavvy]

ToMM©..... 😋👍

🚙💨

[Imhotep]

17 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

Got to be this thing, cost £170 i think about 5 years / 50k miles ago. Chucked a few hundred at it when I'd had it a few months replacing all the suspension and front subframe with the cheapest parts I Could get via my old job and since that I've hardly touched it appart from servicing and a few wear and tear items. Soon up for its 4 set of boots with me so ive Spent more on tyres for it than maintenance.

35 quid tax, max I've had real world was 73mpg but I'd estimate a minimum of 45mpg if giving it shit or towing , Basic and reliable, just does being a car so well. 

So good I have another one as back up when the time comes to retire it.

This the one I saw? I was very impressed by the size of the thing, you got a lot of parts in that.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Without doubt, our trusty old E91. We owned it for 6 years and it was the ultimate family motor - reliable, fast, built like a tank and generally a nice place to sit and travel in.

Peak BMW, without a doubt. Still gutted to this day that rot caught up with it.

And no, it didn't have suspension issues. I'd parked the O/S/F wheel on a large gravel mound for shits and giggles

[Markeh]

As much as I love my current X-Trail, I'd have to say my first Qashqai.

It basically handled everything I could throw at it with very little trouble - had I bought one maybe a year later and been able to spec it with adaptive cruise and Android Auto, I'd have kept it.

Honourable mentions to the Megane, which at £800 and although with some faults was a bloody capable car for the money - some say the most comfortable car I've ever owned!

And the Meriva, which for a £250 gamble with less than 2 weeks MOT and having been stood for the best part of a year took on a 3 hour journey with no incidents and proceeded to fly through its MOT.

[Anglevan]

Has to be my Capri 2.8! While I consider it the best I wouldn't want it or another back. I enjoyed it and glad I owned one. I bought a GT86 as I saw that as a great successor to the Capri and wasn't wrong. Fantastic car. The only other one I can think of was a Chrysler Neon mk1 did 50k in that with absolutely zero issues. Would love another if I could find a mint low mileage one. 

[robt100]

Best is a tricky one, best as in most enjoyable to have, would be the Capri



Best as in the car that I never worried about working, did everything great, cheap to run and dependable enough that I could jump in and drive across europe with no notice.....



That'd be the mk2 octavia. 1.9PD elegance model so most of the toys and 50+ mpg all day long. Bought it at 80k miles, remapped it to 140bhp at 100k miles, went on till I sold it on 275k miles. In that time the only thing apart from services, tyres and brakes was a pair of rear brake calipers and a plastic thermostat housing. Still on the original turbo and the clutch that was done as part of the sale! Best bit was the 'sahara beige' colour was almost identical to typical road dust/dirt, so you never could tell it was dirty until you couldnt see out of the windows 😅

[24vdiamond]

Carlton diamond estate manual 3.0 24v done 380,000 miles with me doing 360,000 in my ownership,  utterly reliable and now undergoing a "not a restoration" 

[Lonestar]

2 minutes ago, 24vdiamond said:

Carlton diamond estate manual 3.0 24v done 380,000 miles with me doing 360,000 in my ownership,  utterly reliable and now undergoing a "not a restoration" 

Very nice. Makes me want to get my Carlton back on the road. Needs a mountain of work, so that's a while off.

[RayMK]

'Best' car for me means one which was very reliable, had supremely comfortable suspension and seating, was pleasant to drive, quiet and refined, had stacks of interior space and towed our heavy old 1963 Robin caravan easily.  The surprising answer was my Renault 20, despite the impossibility of stopping it rusting - but that was only cosmetic during my ownership.  I have very few photos of it as this was in the  pre-digital age (late 1980s).  A very close second best, literally in the photo, was my next car, a Hyundai Stellar 1.6SL owned from new for several years (102K) with its only vice being the Cortina derived rear suspension void bushes which became a routine pre-MOT DIY fix once the MOTs kicked in.  Its suspension did not give the ultra comfortable ride of the R20, but it was perfectly acceptable and easily satisfied my other requirements.  Just for the record, the white Renault 12TS in the photo was ultra reliable until 156K when it dropped an exhaust valve and buggered the engine. The R12 struggled with the caravan, was ok comfort wise but had such chronic understeer when solo that it was a pain to drive.  However, although a R12 resurrection was prevented by lack of funds, I removed Its fabulous high back TS spec drivers seat, grafted it on to the lower part of a non-swivelling office chair, and this became my ultra comfortable seat at work for many years, complete with the reclining capability useful for a lunchtime snooze!   

[Lord Sterling]

1) Vauxhall Zafira 1.6 Petrol;

An odd choice, but a car that was stupidly cheap, perfect, CAZ compliant (not that I really noticed at the time) and easy to find cheap bits for. I never really gave it much of a chance due to being stupidly poor and married at the time. I should honestly have kept this.

2) Rover 825 Sterling

From the day I had it to the day it was sold, this was the longest running Rover 800 I'd ever had. Despite its KV6 engine and swiss cheese radiator, it never skipped a beat, never complained, it was fast, comfortable, kept up easily with modern traffic. Unfortunately, tin rot caught up with it and the only thing holding it together was the paint.

3) Jaguar S-Type:

Despite a slightly rocky start, this is fast becoming the best car I've ever owned. It's becoming my daily runner as others are dropping like flies and failing their MoTs. It drives sublimely, it has many toys, its fast and very comfortable. 

4) Vauxhall Vectra 2.6 V6

Despite its tiredness, I am under the process of getting it back into a good less tired order. So far its been a good work horse, transporting sofas, mattresses, tonnes of rubbish etc... all without complaint.

It'll need some fettling to get it back to how it should be but we're not far off.

[Metal Guru]

Still the Impreza. Amazing reliability for the level of performance. Best car = coolest for me.

 

[Imhotep]

8 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

3) Jaguar S-Type:

Despite a slightly rocky start, this is fast becoming the best car I've ever owned. It's becoming my daily runner as others are dropping like flies and failing their MoTs. It drives sublimely, it has as much the toys, its fast and very comfortable.

 

I'm glad this one went to you in the end to be honest. I usually don't follow up on old cars but it's very rare for me to be able to give someone a chance at an affordable dream car. And I'm glad you've decided to keep it, genuinely.

[Somerset Suffolk]

My 2002 ASZ 130 Mk4 PD TDI - Owned from new and now on 198k and has never failed to get me home - home serviced after the first 8 years and everything works - really not sure what I could replace it with as my daily 

[Volksy]

Mine would have to be my old Volvo 850 2.0 20v SE Estate.

Bought from a chap down in Oxford, I think via Retrorides way back when. 

I was mainly working in France and Italy and needed something that could eat up the miles as I would regularly have to travel to different sites over both countries. Although a little thirsty, it transported me and often four/five up all over europe.

I really couldn't fault it over the couple of years that I had it. It had one fail to proceed, where the valves stuck after a long hot 6 hour drive. No damage, just no compression. Apparently it's something these can suffer from. Managed to un stick it and ran it for a year or so after. 

Someone broke into it by smashing the side window over the load bay whilst it was parked in Calais, which was VERY expensive to replace, I sold it via this forum to @jollyfkr2 who repaired it and passed it on to one of his mates IIRC. 

I'd assume long dead now. RIP M437CSU

 

Not the actual car, but exactly the same...

 

[Jazoli]

Probably my mk1.5 1.6 focus

We needed a cheap ish reliable family car that wouldn't break the bank to run, was practical and was fun to drive (for me)

It had great spec with climate/cruise etc and did 37mpg no matter how it was driven, probably one of the most composed and agile cars whilst being driven in a spirited fashion, better than many of the 'sports' cars I've owned for steering feel and ride and handling

It was brilliant, did 100k in 5 years then we traded it in for a Mondeo estate as we needed a bit more space.

Very similar to this one

 

 

 

[eddyramrod]

I can only really nominate one contender here...

My 1988 MG Maestro 2.0i, owned 2003-6.  It was an absolute riot!

[w00dy]

I could say the Insignia which has been a great car, but I don't love it like I loved this

[JMotor]

So far. 

This thing is a contender.

Comfortable. Quiet and drives nice. 

This also was a bloody good car. 

Bought out of a scrappy. Fixed on the cheap. Did me well. Sold it to buy my first Cavalier. That wasn't a great idea. 

[Barry Cade]

Probably this..

First car i drove to Europe, fast, economical, sounded great, towed the caravan , huge boot ,never ever put a foot wrong. Just a good car. £280 from the auction at Inverurie...

What happened VW? The 3 Passat GL5 estates I had were good too, but  never got me the same way this did.

[brownnova]

It’s a toss up between two for me: 

I think the Saab edges it. Bought as a 6 month stopgap when I had a financed BMW. I’ve owned it now for 8 1/2 years. Perfect as a daily, perfect for the family, fun enough to take on the twistys. Starts conversations, take it to shows and get attention. It does everything. 
 

Strong second place to the XC90 though. 

 Which considering I took it in a swap deal not massively wanting it turned out to be the perfect family wagon when the kids were little. Did a lot of miles in it in loads of comfort, loads of space and mostly very reliable. Genuinely great all rounder. But I can’t have liked it as much as the Saab… because I still own that, and now cms206 owns the Volvo! 

[EyesWeldedShut]

I think, probably, one of these (library picture - identical to mine though).

GX220 Musso - MB 3.2 straight 6, badermatic, permanent 4WD. Bought it for £700 as I needed an urgent towing tug. Ended up keeping it for about 6 years and 26,000 miles of towing (12.6 mpg averaged). Comfy - proper velour armchairs. Fold up the back seats and you could fit two adults on a double mattress in there.

A better car than my previous 3.5 Range Rover and it never put a mechanical foot wrong until tin worm won. Bridged it in 2016/17

Other contenders could be the Porsche 924 and (maybe) the Renault 5 GTX which was totally bonkers to drive on any wet surface if you gave it beans.

 

[Zelandeth]

Honestly, this thing I reckon.

If it had a proper pair of rear seats I reckon I'd still have it.

Not the fastest, most comfortable or anything, but it was just so *easy* to live with.  You could throw anything in the back, and it didn't care. 

However it didn't feel even vaguely van like to drive - it felt...well like a 90s Seat Ibiza, which is what the front two thirds is.  Excellent visibility, comfortable enough, fairly quiet, and just incredibly easy to drive.  Only black mark was that the rear end was set up for the van payload, so it really could have done with about 20% softer dampers I think as it was a little bouncy unless you had some weight in there.

It had an honestly uncanny ability to compress time on long motorway runs.

I've heard a lot of people call the 1.9SDI "dangerously" slow.  Utter tripe.  No, it's not a sports car...but you know what?  It's not a bloody sports car!  It'll sit at well above the legal limit on the motorway all day long without breaking a sweat, and return 50mpg while doing it.  Even with this much ancient computer junk in the back.

It wasn't flash or anything, but it was a bloody good car.  Just wish they'd put the rear seats a little higher and further back.